Didacts and Narpets

Like three other sections from "The Fountain of Lamneth" ("In the Valley", "No One at the Bridge", and "The Fountain"), "Didacts and Narpets" was composed by bassist/lead vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson; its lyrics, as with all of the suite, were written by drummer Neil Peart. It was arranged and produced by Rush and engineer Terry Brown. The shortest composition on any Rush album, "Didacts and Narpets" is a minute-long avant-garde piece, a frantic, aggressive, and "thunderous" drum solo. This produces cognitive dissonance in the character. == Reception and legacy ==

in 2004. He covered "Didacts and Narpets" for a 2005 Rush tribute album. Caress of Steel was released on September 24, 1975; "Didacts and Narpets" is the second part on "The Fountain of Lamneth", which served as the album's fifth and final track. Lee attributed the initial critical and commercial failure of Caress of Steel to listeners and writers unable to understand the material, citing "Didacts and Narpets" as an example. Although "The Fountain of Lamneth" was heavily discussed in contemporaneous reviews, "Didacts and Narpets" was almost never covered except for its name cited as an example of Peart's "pretentious" poetry by Dave Dimartino of The State News. Retrospective coverage of "Didacts and Narpets" has been positive. In 2013, Rush historian Martin Popoff labeled "Didacts and Narpets" "one strange minute of experimentation that remains the band's most bizarre recorded sequence". In a Neil Peart obituary for Deadline Hollywood, Erik Pederson recommended "Didacts and Narpets" as a showcase of the drummer's lyrics and "insane drumming" on Rush's albums pre-Permanent Waves (1980); he cited no other song. Geoff Barton, writing for Classic Rock, also labeled "Didacts and Narpets" a highlight of Caress of Steel; for Rush biographers Bill Banasiewicz and James McCarthy, it was a favorite moment on "The Fountain of Lamneth". Voivod drummer Michel Langevin has expressed admiration for "Didacts and Narpets". He called it a Max Roach-esque avant-garde jazz piece, highlighting its "very dualistic" presentation of "order versus chaos, light versus darkness, good versus evil". Adrien Begrand enjoyed "Didacts and Narpets" as a "fun" and "raucous" drum solo, a contrast to the "eleven-minute slog" of the following three sections of "The Fountain of Lamneth" combined. Jordan Hoffman of Thrillist called it "glorious dark drug, art-rock weirdness". More negatively, guitarist Jim Matheos found "Didacts and Narpets" and "I Think I'm Going Bald" to be Caress of Steels weakest tracks, being a "little out of place" and "failed experiments". Drummer Mike Mangini covered "Didacts and Narpets" for Magna Carta Records' various artists tribute album for Rush, Subdivisions (2005). Music Street Journals Gary Hill praised the cover's faithfulness to Rush's original recording, but also found it an odd inclusion on the tribute album. == Personnel ==

Credits from liner notes for Caress of Steel. Rush • Geddy Lee – vocals, bass guitar • Alex Lifeson – electric guitar • Neil Peart – drums, lyrics Technical • Rush – co-producers, arrangements • Terry Brown – co-producer, engineer, arrangements == Notes ==